We deeply appreciate every stakeholder who has invested their resources, time, and passion into Sights for Hope’s work since 1928. Because of this generosity, we are able to empower people to overcome the challenges of vision loss and promote healthy eyesight. This report reflects what we achieved during our 2024-2025 year, which concludes today. We seek to demonstrate that your efforts have made a difference and that your investments were smart decisions.
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Programs and Services
Throughout 2024-2025, we made notable gains in pursuit of our mission and took our place as one of Pennsylvania’s leading providers of rehabilitative and preventative services against visual impairments and blindness. Among these accomplishments are projected year-over-year increases in several service categories that include:
- Total number of people served
- People who received life skills education
- People who received guided transport services
- People who received counseling services
- People who participated in our prevention services and programs
- Reported number of pre-kindergarten children who received eye exams and glasses
We also worked throughout the year to make our programs and services even stronger. After not being able to provide individual orientation and mobility (O&M) lessons for clients due to the retirements of our contract instructors, we engaged with a new nationally-certified educator and resumed them in December 2024. With support from the Northeast PA Lions Service Foundation and the Lions of PA Foundation, we replenished our Monroe County transport vehicle fleet after experiencing losses from age-related damage. With a grant from the Lehigh Valley Council of the Blind, we upgraded kitchen equipment at our Lehigh Valley Services Center to augment our life skills education programs. With a grant from the Pennsylvania Association for the Blind (PAB), we began to redevelop our C. Well Bunny community education program, which will include a new C. Well puppet and storybook.
Lastly, we were established as one of PAB’s most prolific and effective members. Despite being in only three of the 66 PAB-funded counties, we were responsible for about 10% of PAB-funded services during its 2024 program year.
Operations and Fundraising
This year’s challenges related to operations and fundraising included the cancellation of plans for a major spring fundraiser due to initial investment costs and multiple personnel changes. Despite those issues, we strengthened our financial circumstances considerably in 2024-2025.
Bottom Line Results
- Projected net income and gains without depreciation: $35,000
- Equivalent net income from the previous year: –$222,000
- Projected revenue and gains: $1.527 million, a one-year increase of $90,000
- Projected expenses: $1.492 million, a one-year decrease of $166,000
Growth
- Number of major private donors ($1,000 or more): 85, an increase from 66 one year prior
- Projected revenue from major private donors: $615,000 from $458,000 one year prior
- Projected standard contributions: $191,000 from $140,969 one year prior
- Net revenue from seasonal donor campaigns: $35,000 from $21,000 one year prior
- Donor retention rate: 66%, an increase from 56% one year prior and 23% greater than the national average
- Number of monthly donors: 15 from 4 one year prior
- Gross private grant revenue: $356,370, an increase from $203,000 one year prior and a new single-year record
- New grant funders: Senior Assist Network, Pacific Life Foundation
- Renewed grant funders: Moses Taylor Foundation, Northeast PA Lions Service Foundation, Lions of PA Foundation, and Allentown Rotary Foundation
Response to Challenge
We also responded to the challenge when Pennsylvania Bureau of Blindness and Visual Services (BBVS) subsidies decreased dramatically starting in February 2025. More than 49% of our clients have incomes below or near the federal poverty threshold, and most clients rely on these subsidies to obtain life-changing assistive devices. We rallied foundation and individual donors to raise $39,000 to purchase devices for clients in need. Some of this funding will be deferred to our 2025-2026 year.
Promotional Events
In November 2024, we held a successful Titan of Hope Award luncheon to honor Sights for Hope Board Vice President, former client, and successful entrepreneur Paul Miller. From this event, we gained more than two dozen new donors. In May 2025, we held our first Community Lunch and Learn event, establishing an inexpensive model for deepening relationships with our stakeholders that is easy to duplicate.
Outlook for 2025-2026
We initiated work on our 2026-2030 strategic plan, and we will continue our work in 2025-2026. We have also created a new fundraising event called Bikers for Sight that will take place in the Pocono Mountains this fall. These efforts, along with the refresh of our C. Well Bunny program, promote optimism for the year ahead.
Meanwhile, we will begin 2025-2026 with the uncertainties about the American economy, about the effects of tariffs, and about funding that confront nearly all social service organizations. While we do not receive money directly from the United States government, decreased federal funding to Pennsylvania could generate subsequent decreases at the state and county levels. The funding difficulties with the Pennsylvania BBVS may continue for an extended period. We already know that recently enacted tariffs will increase the costs of assistive devices.
The greatest potential effect, however, would be on our annual program contract with PAB. While PAB is a private organization, its contracts with Sights for Hope and 24 other organizations are funded by the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services (DHS). This DHS funding is provided annually through Pennsylvania’s state budget. As of this writing, the state’s 2025-2026 budget is not expected to be completed when the new fiscal year begins tomorrow. Moreover, the state is presently faced with a budget shortfall of more than $5 billion.
Despite these circumstances, we are positioned with the strength to endure. We decreased costs to be even more efficient this year and have developed a wider base of financial support. Our affiliated endowment foundation has a value of approximately $2.8 million, and its leaders have pledged to provide additional support if necessary. The foundation’s investment portfolios remain strong due to its steadfast dedication to diversification.
Contact for Questions
Please direct your questions to Dennis Zehner, our Executive Director and CEO, at 610.433.6018, Ext. 241, or ask@sightsforhope.org. We are exceedingly grateful for your continued support.
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